for those of you who have gotten into a UC university what did you write in your personal statement?

Of the 4 personal statements I reviewed for Fall 2007, 3 got into both Berkeley and UCLA. Of those 3, one person wrote about a significant family problem, one person wrote about an experience helping others, and one person wrote about a personal/family hardship.

In general, personal and family hardships seem to go over well with the most competitive UCs. Extraordinary achievements (regional, state, national and international levels) also go over very well (based on scholarship applications I’ve read for Fall 2007).

What the personal statement must accomplish is to paint a picture of who you are and who you want to be for the admissions officers. Telling the admissions officers what you think they want to hear almost always backfires.